The 2012 edition of Mediterra takes the mobilising potential of the Mediterranean Diet as a basis and proposes a multidimensional itinerary involving sociodemographics, health, ecology, enterprise, geo-economics and citizens' initiative.

Consumers in the countries of the Mediterranean Basin have progressively changed their dietary practices as they have gradually become caught up in the dynamics of urbanisation and the globalisation of agricultural trade. They are adhering less and less to the Mediterranean Diet, despite the fact that it is the basis of their identity and one of the major assets of the region. Pressures on natural resources and the emergence of new private actors are compounding the complexity of diet-related issues.

Already the subject of widespread sociocultural and scientific debate and research, the Mediterranean Diet merits reconsideration from the political point of view given the growing awareness of the strategic dimension of agriculture and the crucial role played by food production in the stability and development of societies. This diet, whose health-promoting virtues are widely recognised and which UNESCO has now listed as part of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity, is now raising questions in the fields of environmental responsibility and political action to promote greater regional cooperation.

This report has been produced under the direction of the International Centre for Advanced Mediterranean Agronomic Studies (CIHEAM), which is an intergovernmental organisation for training, research and cooperation in the fields of agriculture, food and sustainable rural development in the Mediterranean region.

PREFACE

CONTRIBUTORS

INTRODUCTION
• The fare of the Mediterranean seas
• A new journey to be taken
• The Mediterranean Diet – between concern and hope
• Multidisciplinary expertise for a cross-cutting report
• An itinerary in eight stages

ORIGINS and construction of the Mediterranean Diet

> CHAPTER 1 The Mediterranean Diet: designed for the futureJoan Reguant-Aleix
• Beyond words
• The Mediterranean, much more than a sea
• A space with slippery limits
• A sculptured landscape
• A sea of achievements
• The Mediterranean Diet, much more than a nutritional guideline
• The Mediterranean, alive and dynamic
• Revisiting Ancel Keys
• Voices of the Mediterranean today

> CHAPTER 6 The "Mediterraneanisation" of food fashions in the worldGiulia Palma and Martine Padilla
• The "Mediterraneanisation" of food: what does it mean?
• Is the convergence towards the Mediterranean Diet a fact?
• A marked decline in food quality, especially in the Mediterranean
• The beneficiaries of "Mediterraneanisation"
• Inverted dynamics

ENVIRONMENT and biodiversity

> CHAPTER 7 Can sustainable consumption protect the Mediterranean landscape?Rami Zurayk
• Capitalist agriculture and the new agrarian question
• The spatial projection of the agrarian question
• Can the invisible hand of the market preserve agrarian landscapes?
• Conclusion

> CHAPTER 8 Natural resources and food in the MediterraneanRoberto Capone, Hamid El Bilali, Abderraouf Elferchichi, Nicola Lamaddalena and Lamberto Lamberti
• Water and land resources in Mediterranean countries
• Diversity of plants, crops and farming systems in the Mediterranean
• The main environmental impacts of food consumption in the Mediterranean
• Conclusion

THE SOCIAL responsibility of the actors involved

> CHAPTER 9 Social responsibility in agricultureCatherine Rivoal
• Precarious farming, the other side of the picture
• Risk and opportunity of seasonal agricultural migration
• Conclusion

> CHAPTER 11 Responsible consumptionRoberto Burdese
• Consumer associations: a little history
• The paradigms of consumption
• Mediterranean Diet: by nature or by choice
• Is the customer always right?
• Is it possible to return to an authentic Mediterranean Diet?
• Conclusion

FOOD producers and distributors

> CHAPTER 12 Producters' organisations and food supplyHiba El Dahr
• The need for strong and structured farmer's organisations
• Producers, farmers' organisations and governance of chains
• The “terroir” as a tool for the structuring of chains
• Producers’ organisations: key actors in innovation and vectors of change
• What if regional development also took place through agricultural organisations?

> CHAPTER 20 Food, tourism and regional authoritiesÉmilie Vandecandelaere and Sébastien Abis
• The dynamics of tourism
• The dynamics of regional authorities and decentralised cooperation
• Regional specialities – a lever for a local development and a primary tool for cooperation
• Several avenues that might be explored

> CHAPTER 21 Policies and regulations in the Mediterranean: complementarity and coherenceGiulio Malorgio and Laura Solaroli
• Changes in agricultural policy: a shift towards consumers and the environment
• The quality policy of the EU and the Southern Mediterranean countries
• Quality regulation and market access
• Complementarities and coherence of agricultural policy
• Conclusion